My Ikigai

Dear Nikken Friend,

Valerie and I are attending the Team Nikken Summit in Utah. Just a few miles north is the Freeport Center. I was a forklift operator there as we began our married life, and I hated winter! I would often need to be at work by 3am. It was dark, very cold and snow was often drifting everywhere. A most unpleasant task was taking my gloves off so as to be able to open up a railroad car door and place a docking plate so I could drive my forklift in and out of the car. Winter could make this job most unpleasant.

Last Sunday night we found ourselves driving up Little Cottonwood canyon to stay a few nights where it’s even more cold, and much more snow… yet now I was highly enthusiastic! It’s been snowing like crazy and unusually cold. The top of the ski lift at Alta is over 11,000 feet high, snowing and zero degrees…and we were loving it! (I also love my electric gloves) You could hear people whooping with joy all over the mountain as they made fresh tracks in perfect snow. Wow, 3 days in a row of skiing paradise with yummy powder everywhere!

If you love what you’re doing, then you can do lots of it. There was no feeling of drudgery as we went on ‘just one more run!’ And doing Nikken is just like that – it’s way fun to do; it’s an awesome hobby that can pay very well for making a huge contribution for the lives of many others. Before Nikken we didn’t have the time or the money to ski. Staying at a ski-in-ski-out resort plus lift tickets and equipment adds up. I really appreciate that Nikken is a hobby that actually pays me to practice it. What a wonderful hobby where I can bless the lives of many others while gaining more time and money freedom for myself.

At our training today, Luis Kasuga introduced a new term to the Nikken lexicon: Ikigai, a Japanese concept that means “a reason for being.” The word “ikigai” is usually used to indicate the source of value in one’s life or the things that make one’s life worthwhile. The word translated to English roughly means “thing that you live for” or “the reason for which you wake up in the morning. Click Ikigai to learn more. Skiing, music, mountain bike riding are all hobbies I’m passionate about, but Nikken is my Ikigai. What is your Ikigai? You should most definitely have one. Be Kaizen…and Ikigai!!!

Dave & Ben

Have you seen our Commitment Pledge?
I just listened to this and it’s really good!  John Maxwell